‘SABC has made strides in its bid to push for unbiased reporting’

William Bird says the public broadcaster has shown tremendous improvement in unbiased journalism.

The SABC has made strides in its bid to push for unbiased and ethical reporting.

This is according to Media Monitoring Africa Director, William Bird.

The media watchdog together with other stakeholders gathered at the Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg to discuss the future of journalism in the country.

Bird says the public broadcaster has shown tremendous improvement in unbiased journalism.

He says, “If you go back to 2016, local government elections and you look at the SABC’s coverage there, there were clear instances of bias. It was a shameful period for our public broadcaster.”

“You compare them with how they reported the elections this year, it’s chalk and cheese. It’s infinitely, supremely better. The fact that you can get a broadcaster the size, scale and complexity of SABC to make that kind of radical change, is nothing short of spectacular,” Bird adds.